OVER 100,000 low paid civil servants in the PCS union are debating the next step in their pay battle. Quick and determined action is needed to win this crucial battle with the government. Some 92,000 workers struck brilliantly in the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) on Monday and Tuesday of last week. A number of other departments have also struck recently.
STAFF AT London's Science Museum held a "Mad Hatter's tea party" outside the museum last week as part of their continuing industrial action over pay. Members of the Prospect union served tea and jam tarts dressed as characters from Alice in Wonderland to reflect the feeling among the staff that the way they have been treated by management is madness.
WORKERS AT Scottish & Newcastle's Fountain Brewery in Edinburgh were outraged enough about the company's decision to close the plant even before the news this week that the company's profits in the eight months to 31 December rose to £471 million. The Transport and General Workers Union (TGWU), the largest union in the brewing industry, has stated its opposition to the closure of the profitable brewery and pledged its support for the members' campaign to keep it open.
WORKERS AT Land Rover have voted to accept a new deal, which the company was forced to offer after two one-day strikes.
BRITISH AIRWAYS CitiExpress pilots, who staff its domestic operations, are in dispute over pay. Balpa, the pilots' union, has been conducting a consultative ballot among its 600 CitiExpress members to establish whether they are prepared to strike over cost-cutting and pay.
OVER 4,500 nursery nurses in Scotland are set to begin an all-out indefinite strike on Monday following a magnificent four to one vote. The action pits some of the lowest paid workers in education in Britain against predominantly Labour local authority employers. The fight over pay and regrading is crucial for public sector workers and beyond.
BUS DRIVERS from First Scotland East, West Lothian's main service provider, held a one-day strike last Saturday, as part of an ongoing dispute with management over conditions and pay. Many drivers began an unofficial overtime ban on Monday of this week. Further strike action has not been ruled out.
"WE ARE making a stand for what we believe is right." That was how one worker at the Metzeler car components company in Coalville near Leicester described their battle over pay. The workers, members of the Amicus union, have held a one-day strike every Monday for the last four weeks.
